Linda Noskova defeats Marta Kostyuk to open play at WTA Finals
Noskova won her WTA Finals debut match against Kostyuk at Indian Wells on Day 1.
Linda Noskova beat Marta Kostyuk in the opening match of the WTA Finals at Indian Wells. The Czech player won her debut match at the season-ending event.
Key takeaways
- Linda Noskova defeated Marta Kostyuk in the opening match at the WTA Finals
- The match took place at Indian Wells on Day 1
- Both players were making their WTA Finals debuts
- Noskova leads the head-to-head series 2-1
- The WTA Finals uses a round-robin format with groups of four
Linda Noskova defeated Marta Kostyuk in the opening match of the WTA Finals at Indian Wells on Sunday, November 8. The Czech player secured her first win at the season-ending event in straight sets. The match began at 12 p.m. local time as the first match on Day 1 of the tournament. Noskova leads the head-to-head series against Kostyuk 2-1. Both players were making their debuts at the WTA Finals.
WTA Finals format and groups
The WTA Finals features two groups of four players competing in a round-robin format. The top two players from each group move on to the knockout stage. Noskova is in Group 1 alongside Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula. Gauff and Pegula met later on Day 1 for a fourth straight year at the event, with three points separating them in the race for year-end No. 4.
Noskova's 2026 season
Noskova is the reigning Wimbledon champion. She reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells earlier in the year and advanced to the US Open quarter-finals in September. Her 2026 record stands at 35 wins and 15 losses, with two titles at Berlin and Wimbledon.
She has won three career singles titles, including the 2026 Wimbledon Championships, and has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6. This is her first WTA Finals appearance.
Kostyuk's background and recent form
Kostyuk is a Ukrainian professional tennis player with a career-high singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on September 14, 2026. She has won three WTA Tour singles titles, including the 2026 Madrid Open, a WTA 1000 event.
Her best major performances are reaching the semi-finals of the 2026 French Open and the 2026 Wimbledon Championships. Since her US Open meeting with Noskova, Kostyuk has won only one match, her second round at Guadalajara. She last played on the WTA Tour in Ningbo.
Head-to-head history
Noskova and Kostyuk have played each other four times this season across all three surfaces. Noskova won their lone hard-court meeting at the US Open fourth round, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4. Kostyuk won their clay-court meeting on her way to the Madrid title.
Noskova took their grass-court meeting in the Wimbledon semi-finals en route to her championship. Both Wimbledon and Madrid meetings were in straight sets. Both players have 35 wins in their 2026 season. Noskova last competed at the Round of 16 in Beijing.
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